Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2013 - Page 38

Matinkylä metro station will be the most active station
in the expansion line – offering a diverse service package
The coming metro line is causing waves all around Espoo – but nowhere is the
excitement more tangible than in Matinkylä, which will be the end of the line
for the westbound line. Already a home to the sixth biggest shopping centre
in the country – Iso Omena (or, Big Apple, in English) – the emerging metro
centre will push the neighbourhood into another level entirely.
D
uring the coming years, the shopping
centre will grow immensely, as the
southern end of the centre will witness the construction of the metro station,
bus terminal and commercial premises. The
bus terminal alone will be a considerable
project, since feeder traffic will be largely directed to Matinkylä as it is the anchor
station in the line. There will be an expansion of about 24,000–30,000 square metres
to the shopping centre, meaning that the Big
Apple will get a lot bigger, reaching 75,000
square metres.
36 Nordicum
The development of the metro centre is
a partner effort: Citycon and NCC Property
Development are in charge of realising the
high-profile project. Citycon, as the owner
of the shopping centre, sounds like a natural choice for the project, but, in fact, originally the City of Espoo arranged an idea
competition regarding the development of
the metro station. The finalists were Citycon and NCC. Marko Juhokas, Senior Vice
President for Citycon Finland, looks back at
the origins of the project:
“The City of Espoo liked our plan a
lot, but at the same time, the plan by NCC
showed a more effective usage of space. As
a consequence, the City asked if we could
combine our forces and develop the project
together.”
Best of Both Worlds
Citycon and NCC quickly warmed up to the
idea of partnership and have been working
on the project together for more than three
years now. Jukka Manninen, Unit Director
for Retail at NCC Property Development,
Photos: Citycon
Big Apple Goes Mega